Legend of the Red Dragon

Legend of the Red Dragon follows Hung Hei-Kwun, a martial artist whose village is destroyed and whose wife is killed by the soldiers of a repressive ruler. He escapes with his young son and raises the boy while drifting through the country, teaching him martial arts and trying to protect ordinary people from further harm. Their travels bring them into contact with a woman who becomes close to Hung, and with a group of children whose safety becomes his responsibility. Pursued by the same forces that wiped out his home, Hung is drawn toward a confrontation with a formidable and possibly supernatural adversary.

The film was directed by Wong Jing, who also wrote the screenplay, and it was released in Hong Kong in February 1994. Wong Jing was in the middle of an exceptionally busy stretch: this is the sixteenth of the thirty-seven features he directed, arriving between Hail the Judge earlier the same year and God of Gamblers' Return later in 1994. Jet Li plays Hung Hei-Kwun, with Tse Miu as his son Hung Man-Ting, Chingmy Yau as Red Bean, Deanie Ip as Red Bean's mother, Ji Chunhua as Ma Ling-Yee and Sun Jiankui as the Renegade Monk. The mix of action, adventure, comedy and thriller elements runs to 95 minutes.

Audience reactions are mixed but broadly favourable. On IMDb the film holds 6.3 out of 10 from around 6,400 votes, while on TMDB it averages 7.1 out of 10 from roughly 176 votes. The smaller TMDB sample is warmer, but both figures point to a modest, enduring following rather than wide acclaim.